Letter to Students 31 August 2008

Dear Reader

It is Sunday night, and it is the first time I have been able to sit down and write to you in Portobello.  I am writing as I sit beside Han, having had the most wonderful day which has heralded the beginning of spring.  We awoke, like yesterday, to a sunny, calm day where the harbour was like a millpond, and the water had receded leaving the sandbanks exposed for us to walk upon.  Walking around PuddingIsland, the island at the bottom of Seaton Road, recalled the days when we used to walk with our children when they all lived at home.  Shahan was just a toddler, and Han carried Jan on his back in those early days, and we so delighted in watching our nine year old Suny, and two year old Shahan look under rocks for crabs.  As Han and I walked around the craggy, volcanic rocks, we talked about those days, and felt very blessed for all we had. 

Last Sunday, I went into town to pick up Japanese guests from the airport who were giving a recital at the University of Otago Marama Hall, and the day was a similarly beautiful one.  They had arrived from Auckland, having been told that it would be terribly cold, and were pleasantly surprised when the sun was shining, and the sky was a brilliant blue. We stopped to take photos of the early lambs, and then drove over the high road of the OtagoPeninsula to enjoy the views of both the Pacific Ocean and the OtagoHarbour.  Han had cooked a wonderful leek and potato soup, using vegetables he had grown in the garden, and I shared the home made bread I had made earlier in the morning.  It was the beginning of a wonderful three days spent with very talented musicians, and we made the most of the time we had together.  The musicians live in Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan, except for Ookinawa, and they live in the countryside where they also grow vegetables like Han does. They grow a wide range of vegetables, including rice, which we can not grow in this cooler climate.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to grow our own rice and be self sufficient in food?  I will keep dreaming!

Our newly made Japanese friends, Han and I all love good food, wine and music, and we gathered with friends over the three days and enjoyed each other’s company.  What more is there in life than good friends and family?

15^th September, 2008

A week has passed by, and I am so pleased that we were able to have such a wonderfully sunny weekend, yet again! I loved waking to a bright, sunny day and the harbour was like a millpond again on Sunday.  There was not a breath of wind, and we loved working and resting in the 23 degree heat.  Han and I spent most of the weekend out in our garden, only stopping to have a drink on the verandah of our cottage and surveying all the work we had done.  We love nothing better than working together in our piece of paradise, and then relaxing together as we reflect on we have achieved, and are achieving. After pulling out the weeds, the spring flowers and cherry blossom looked all the happier to me.  They were free to reach up to the sun and bathe in its rays!  Han spent this morning weeding around his vegetables which will be ready to pick soon, and I love collecting the vegetables before cooking them for dinner.

Eating healthy food is so important for our health, and I despair when I see the advertising for so much junk food.  Walking down the supermarket aisles, we are bombarded with and tempted by ready made products, which are easy to prepare, but not so easily accepted by our bodies.  If you are lazy in your preparation of food, your body is lazy in processing the food, resulting in extra fat being stored in your body.  Obesity is a serious problem in New Zealand now, and yet it was not a problem at all when I was a child.  Most people had a “vege patch and chook house” on their quarter acre section, and you didn’t need to go to the shop to buy any extra vegetables or eggs.  You went down to the hen house and collected your eggs daily, and had one fresh egg a day.  When you work in a garden, you certainly expend a lot of energy and there is no need to go to the gym. For me, the gym is a waste of energy as you produce nothing at the end of it.  After working in the garden this past weekend, I felt a sense of achievement, and loved the feeling of tired muscles and that sense that I had done something to enhance the environment around me.  Yesterday, I made two kinds of bread, and loved watching the dough rise in the sun. Today, I brought some bread in to school, and I love sharing what I have made with others. 

Why do you think that children and adults become obese?  What has changed in our society that has brought about such seriously overweight people?  Such obese people are highly likely to develop diabetes, their life expectancy is seriously reduced, not to mention the agony they experience every day in just doing the simple chores and activities we take for granted.  Carrying around so many extra kilos of fat must be horrific!  It seems such a simple thing to eat a good, balanced diet, but I know it is not that simple.  My fifteen year old son, Jan, suggested yesterday that the money raised from the tax placed on cigarettes could go to subsidizing fruit and vegetables.  I thought that was a wonderful idea as if oranges are dearer than chips, then many parents will buy chips as it makes their weekly budget stretch further.  How can we stop this obesity problem?

I must now get ready to teach, and I love doing that even more than gardening!!  Have a great week, and please write back to me with your ideas. Enjoy each precious day, and make sure you sit outside and soak up those important sunrays!

Love

Sharron